Proposal for delisting held in committee
BOISE — Idaho Rep. Priscilla Giddings and local resident Jann Higdem presented Higdem’s Superfund delisting proposal (formerly referred to as House Concurrent Resolution 8) to the Idaho State Legislature’s Resources and Conservation Committee.
The proposal, which has drawn consternation from local leaders, was held in committee despite strong support from Giddings who represents District 7.
Higdem’s proposal called for the delisting of Residential Soils Operable Unit 1 (OU 1, or The Box), even though OU 2 and OU 3, are still far from being completed as the EPA and Department of Environmental Quality continue to work extensively in the region.
The Box is the 21-square-mile area surrounding the smelter area from the former Bunker Hill Smelting plant and includes all of Kellogg, Smelterville, Wardner and Pinehurst.
Giddings cited two potential major factors for why the resolution didn’t receive the support of the House Committee: A low comprehension of the ins and outs of partial delistment, particularly the issue of funding, and a lack of support from local officials, such as the Shoshone Board of County Commissioners and the local mayors.
Giddings acknowledged conversations with each member of the BOCC individually, as well as a conference call with the BOCC as a whole — where the topic of discussion centered around talks of funding.
“The primary reason was a lack of understanding of partial delisting, and then also what the state’s liability would be financially,” Giddings said. “And then it would be the local input from the commissioners and mayors.”
Giddings used the example where, hypothetically one day the area is listed as completely covered by the Superfund system already in place, and then the next day the site is delisted and a cataclysmic event happens that threatens to expose and recontaminate the area.
What would be the financial responsibility to the state for making sure it gets taken care of?
At this point, that answer is being looked into, however a trust is already in place to make sure that emergency situations within OU 1 have funding available to them.
Giddings praised Higdem’s work on her proposal, and mentioned that despite the BOCC’s opposing her stance on this issue, they also praised her work for them in other regards.
“All three of the commissioners were very positive about Jann’s work and it seems like they have a good working relationship with her,” Giddings said. “She knows the EPA inside and out. I just respect her research skills and knowledge immensely. I think a lot of this comes down to needing to understand the issue completely.”
Giddings did outline a few of the things she feels will be positives if and when the area gets delisted, like the removal of the stigma surrounding living in a Superfund Site, lower interest rates on home and business loans, and local governments gaining more control of the goings-on in these communities without needing approval of the agencies involved with the Superfund project.
The Idaho Department of Environmental Quality also issued a statement on the resolution being held in committee:
“During the House Resources and Conservation committee hearing for HCR8 on Feb. 19, the committee voted to hold HCR8 in committee. This provides the committee members the opportunity to obtain additional information on the issue of delisting residential soils in the Box. The work completed to date at the Bunker Hill Superfund Site has been a major accomplishment. There are also ongoing challenges that will require continued effort to sustain our success and continue to make improvements. DEQ will continue to provide information in response to questions from legislative committee members, local officials, and citizens.”
The EPA declined to comment at this time.
Further information on House Concurrent Resolution 8 can be found at legislature.idaho.gov/sessioninfo/2019/legislation/HCR008, or a recording of the legislative session can be found at lso.legislature.idaho.gov.